Atlanta has largely returned to normal Saturday as city and state leaders continue to deal with the fall out from the storm that paralized the city.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has outlined steps he said he plans to take to improve the city's emergency preparedness after a winter storm brought the metro area to a halt.

Reed said Friday he has ordered a comprehensive review of the city's response to Tuesday's snowfall to see what worked and what didn't. He also will convene a working group to come up with best practices for emergency preparedness, including a protocol for dismissals during severe weather.

His remarks came as temperatures in Atlanta climbed above 50 degrees, melting much of the remaining snow and ice. Traffic was moving normally on the region's interstates and local roads, though a state of emergency remained in effect through Sunday night. While many school districts were still closed, state and many private employees returned to work. Police were encouraging motorists to reclaim cars abandoned at the height of the storm.

Like blood coursing through veins, traffic came to a screeching halt in Atlanta this week because of two inches of snow and icy road conditions.

Local Atlanta media and the Georgia Tech University did timelapse videos to illustrate the gridlock. The timelapse video below shows thousands of motorists in Atlanta became ensnarled in traffic for as long as 11 hours. Hundreds of motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles.

The Google traffic map video shows the flow of traffic in five-minute intervals. The video was provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation.